Parker pipped PFA Player of the Year Gareth Bale to the award

West Ham midfielder Scott Parker has been voted 2011 Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association.Parker, 30, topped the poll of journalists ahead of Tottenham winger Gareth Bale, who was last week named the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year.Parker’s form this season earned him an international recall for England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales in March.The former Chelsea and Newcastle player will receive the award on 12 May.

Parker’s award is even more impressive considAering West Ham’s lowly position and the poor season they have had – they head into their last five games of the campaign one off the bottom of the table.”Parker has been so consistent this season with his performances in a West Ham team battling for Barclays Premier League survival and as such has forced himself back into the England national set-up,” said FWA chairman Steve Bates, chief football writer at The People.”He has been an inspirational figure for the Irons and hopefully his professionalism will be rewarded with West Ham staying up at the end of the season.”In what was one of the tightest votes of recent seasons, Scott is certainly a worthy winner and follows in the footsteps of a long line of superb footballers who have been given this prestigious honour.”BBC Sport’s chief football writer, Phil McNulty, added: “Parker’s selection as the FWA Footballer of the Year only underlines the scale of his contribution to a West Ham team that could still be relegated – and probably would be already if it wasn’t for his professionalism and performances.”It’s often easy to shine in a good side but Parker has carried a poor team and has been so outstanding that he has finally convinced England coach Fabio Capello of his worth. A worthy winner.”As well as Bale, Parker also pipped some high-profile names to the award including Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic and Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez as well as Blackpool’s talismanic midfielder Charlie Adam.

(BBC Football )

1000 extra police on duty for Old Firm clash

Apr 22 2011 Paul O’Hare

 

A thousand extra cops will be on duty for Sunday’s Old Firm game after police chiefs warned of a “perfect storm” brewing around the match.Strathclyde Chief Constable Stephen House said the vital SPL clash would be staged on a holiday weekend – and in hot weather likely to fuel heavy drinking.And he admitted that the timing of the anti-Celtic nailbomb campaign – just ahead of the seventh Old Firm match of the season – was “challenging” for his officers.But House said an army of extra police would be on duty across his force area, ready to cope with any trouble.He told Strathclyde Police Authority: “We are concerned about the weekend. We will have an extra 1000 officers on duty across Strathclyde, not just at the match, to try to deal with what we expect will be a peak in violence.”

House stressed that he did not blame the clubs for Old Firm violence and said individuals who committed crimes were responsible for their own actions.But he admitted he would like police to have more say in when the games are played.He said: “What we really want to do is move it to the most effective and least violent time, which our analysis shows is a Monday or Tuesday night.”I understand there is a financial penalty on the clubs if they have these matches during the week.”But there is a financial penalty on the whole of Scotland if we have these matches at weekends.”I want to stress that we don’t see the clubs as the enemy here. We are working with them and they are working with us.”We are working very closely with both clubs to ensure the match goes ahead in a safe and secure environment.”House said he could not discuss the specifics of the nailbombs inquiry.But he said: “We are appalled at the criminal and reckless actions of those who sent these packages.”House said the force were putting their “full weight” behind catching the culprits.Police later said they wanted to speak to three dog walkers seen near the post box in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, where the letter bomb addressed to Paul McBride QC was found.A man in his 30s, wearing glasses and a baseball cap, was seen walking a black and brown Staffordshire terrier type dog at about 2pm on April 15.At around the same time, a young couple were seen walking a dark-coloured puppy, also a Staffordshire type.The dog walkers are being seen as potential witnesses, not possible suspects.

(Daily Record )